Snare drum



Jan. 3l, 1950 LE ROY J. JEFFRlEs SNARE DRUM Filed Dec. 29, 1944 Patented Jan. 31, 1950 SNARE DRUM Le Roy J. JeiTrieS, Elkhart, Ind., assgnor to C. G. Conn, Ltd., Elkhart, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application December 29, 1944, Serial No. 570,265

9 Claims.

This invention relates to drums and more particularly to snare mounting and control means for drums.

@ne of the objects of the invention is to provide a drum in which a snare unit is provided insideof the drum to rest against the upper surface of the bottom head. In this construction gravity assists in holding the snares against the head so that less tension is required in the snares than heretofore.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drum in which the snare is maintained under substantially constant tension at all times. This is particularly important in connection with the snares made of a material which is sensitive toVY atmospheric changes.

Another object is to provide a drum in which the snare is urged against the head with a con- .etant pressure and may be latched in inoperative position spaced from the head.

Still another object is to provide a drum in I of circular shape terminating at its ends inY inwardly rolled beads I I. A vibratile snare head I2 is stretched over one end of the drum body and may be held under tension in any desired manner. It will be understood that a beating head (not shown) is stretched over the opposite end of the body and may be connected kthru supporting rings and adjustable tension clamps to the snare head to hold the two heads on the body as is conventional in the art.

In the drum as shown, the snare unit and the supporting mechanism therefor is mounted on the drum interior. The snare unit may comprise a series of parallel strands I3 of any desired material such as metal Wires, fabric cords or the like stretched between supporting brackets I4 which are adaptedto hold the strands I3 in contact with the head I2.

The snare is supported by identical supporting units mounted at diametrically opposite points on the interior of the drum body or shell each of which includes a bracket I5 secured to the drum body by bolts or the like I5a and having inwardly turned anges I5b at its opposite sides. Four links I6 are pivoted at one end to vertically spaced points on the bracket anges respectively and at their opposite ends to similarly spaced ears I'Ia on a bar I'I. In this way, the bar is supported by the links for movement toward and away from the head without changing its angle relative to the head or the drum body. A spring I8 is connected at one end to the bracket I5 and at its opposite end to a pin I9 on the bar to urge the bar toward the head.

The snare I3 is supported by a lever 2I pivoted intermediate its ends on pivot shaft ZIa carried by the ears IIa on the bar I'I and connected at its lower end to the snare supporting bracket I4, The upper end of the lever is offset to space it from the bar and a spring 22 acts between the upper end of the lever and an adjusting screw 23 threaded thru the bar. Access to the screw 23 for adjustment may be had thru an opening 24 in the drum body in register with the screw. The spring 22 urges the lever 2| to turn about its pivot so that its lower end tends to move away from the opposite supporting unit so that the snare I3 will be tensioned.

With this construction the snare is maintained under a substantially constant tension at all times and is not affected materially by changes in atmospheric conditions tending to cause the strands of the snare either to stretch or to contract. At the same time, the spring I8 holds the snare against the head I2 with a constant force so that operation of the snare will be uniform at all times.

To move the snare away from the head a transverse operating rod 25 is rotatably supported by bearing units 26 in the drum body and extends diametrically across the body. One end of the rod 25 projects thru the drum body and is connected to an operating handle 21 by which the rod may be turned manually as desired. Crank discs 28 are connected to the rod above the snare supporting units and carry crank pins 29 spaced from the rod 25. Links 3| are pivotally connected at one end to the pins 2S and at their opposite ends to similar pins 32 at the upper part of the bars Il. By turning the rod 25 thru the handle 2l the links willpraise the bars II against the tension of the springs i 8 to move the snare I3 away from the head I2.

As best seen in Figure 2, the links 3l are bent intermediate their ends so that when the crank discs 28 are turned the pins 29 will move across a line connecting the pins 32 and the rod 25. With the rod turned to elevate the bars l1, the bent portion of the links 3| will engage the rods 25 to hold the crank discs against further turning. The crank discs and links 3l operate at this time in the manner of a toggle linkage which is moved past center so that the bars l'l will be latched in their raised position to hold the snare away from the head. To return the snare to operative position the crank may be turned counter-clockwise as seen in Figure 2, to release the toggle latch so that the springs I8 can again urge the bars to a position in which the snare engages the head.

According to one of the important features of the invention the snare unit is mounted internally of the drum to engage the upper surface of the lower head. Thus when the drum is in playing position with its axis extending generally vertically, gravity tends to held the snares against the drum head so that a uniform engagement throughout the snare length is provided with less tension on the snares than is required in conventional external snare units.

Further, since the snares are held under tension solely by the springs 22, a uniform tension is maintained over a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions. The tension is easily adjustable through the screws 23 and once set to suit the user, will 'be maintained by the springs.

While one embodiment oi the invention has been shown and described in detail herein, it will be understood that this is illustrative only and is not intended as a definition of the scope of the invention reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A drum comprising a hollow body, a transi'erse vibratile head carried by the body, a bar movably carried by the body for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means on the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, and a spring engaging the bar and the lever and urging the lever to turn about its pivot in a direction to tension the snare unit.

2. A drum comprising a hollow body, a transverse vibratile head carried by the body, a bar movably carried by the body for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means cn the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, a spring cngaging the bar and the lever and urging the lever to turn about its pivot in a direction to tension the snare unit, a spring urging the bar toward the head, and control means connected to the bar to move it away from the head.

3. A drum comprising a hollow body, a transverse vibratile head carried by the body, a bar movably carried by the body for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means on the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, a spring engaging the bar and the lever and urging the lever to turn about its pivot in a direction to tension the snare unit, a spring urging the bar toward the head, a link pivotally connected to the bar, and crank means rotatably mounted on the drum body and connected to the link to move the bar away from the dead.

4. A drum comprising a. hollow body, a transverse Vibratile head carried by the body, a pair of links pivoted to the body, a bar pivoted to the links for substantially parallel movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means on the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, and a spring engaging the bar and the lever and urging the lever in a direction to tension the snare unit.

5. A drum comprising a hollow body, a transverse vibratile head carried by the body, a pair of links pivoted to the body, a bar pivoted to the links for substantially parallel movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means on the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, a spring engaging the bar and the lever and urging the lever in a direction to tension the snare unit, a spring urging the bar toward the head, a link pivoted to the bar, and a crank rotatable on the drum body connected to the link to move the bar away from the head, the crank and link forming a toggle linkage movable past center to a latching position when the bar is moved away from the head.

6. A drum comprising a hollow tubular body, a vibratile head extending across one end of the body, a pair of snare supporting units mounted at dianietrcally opposite points in the body, each of the units including a bar, means mounting the bar for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, and a spring acting between the lever and bar to urge the outer end of the lever away from the other unit, a snare connected at its opposite ends to the outer ends oi the levers, springs urging the bars toward the head, cranks rotatably supported on the drum body at diametrically opposite points adjacent the snare supporting units, an operating rod for the cranks extending across the drum body and projecting therethrough, and links connecting the cranks to the bars respectively.

7. A drum comprising a hollow tubular body, a vibratile head extending across one end of the body, a pair of snare supporting units mounted at diametrically opposite points in the body, each of the units including a bar, means mounting the bar for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, and a spring acting between the lever and bar to urge the outer end of the lever away from the other unit, a snare connected at its opposite ends to the outer ends of the levers, springs urging the bars toward the head, cranks rotatably supported on the drum body at diametrically opposite points adjacent the snare supporting units, an operating rod for the cranks extending across the drum body and projecting therethrough, and links connecting the cranks to the bars respectively, the links being bent so that they will engage the operating rod when the bars are moved away from the head to latch the snare in inoperative position.

8. A drum comprising a hollow body, a transverse vibratile head extending across one end of the body, a bar in the body adjacent the head, means mounting the bar in the body for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted on the bar, means on the lever to -carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, a spring engaging the -bar and lever and urging the lever to turn about its pivot in a direction to tension the snare unit, and control means extending through the body and operable from the exterior thereof to control movements of the bar toward and raway from the head.

9. A drum comprising a hollow body, a ltransverse vibratile head extending across one end of the body, a bar in the body adjacent the head, means mounting the bar ln the body for movement toward and away from the head, a lever pivoted On the bar, means on the lever to carry a snare unit for engagement with the head, a spring engaging the bar and lever and urging the lever to turn about its pivot in a direction to tension the snare unit, a spring in the body urging the bar toward the head, and control means connected to the 4har and extending through the body to be operable from the exterior thereof to move the bar away from the head.

l0 LE ROY J. JEFFRIES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 15 le of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATTS Name Date Hennl Apr. 21, 1903 Wanamaker Apr. 16, 1907 Elliott May 25, 1926 Logan Mar. 3, 1931 Ludwig Dec. 17, 1935 Strupe Oct. 19, 1937 Ludwig et al. Nov. 4, 1941 Crodes Dec. 23, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 21, 1888 

